Exclusive: Microsoft Delays Vista Beta 2 to Late May, RTM to October 25, 2006

Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it wouldn't be able to deliver
Windows Vista in time for the 2006 holiday sales season. My sources now
tell me that the company plans a release to manufacturing (RTM) for
Vista on or before October 25, 2006, approximately two months later
than the previous shipment schedule. And the company has delayed the
next major Vista milestone, the Beta 2 release, from April to late May
2006.

The official announcement contains none of these details. In its
statement, Microsoft said simply that it would ship the volume-
licensed, business-oriented versions of Vista in November 2006 and the
consumer-oriented versions in January 2007. The company curiously
blamed this latest delay on its computer industry partners. "Product
quality and a great out-of-box experience have been two of our key
drivers for Windows Vista, and we are on track to deliver on both," Co-
President of Platform Products and Services Jim Allchin says in the
statement. "But the industry requires greater lead time to deliver
Windows Vista on new PCs during [the] holiday[s]. We must optimize for
the industry, so we've decided to separate business and consumer
availability."

Additionally, there is a new Vista roadmap. The Beta 2 release,
previously scheduled for April, has been delayed until late May.
Vista, formerly code-named Longhorn, has been delayed repeatedly
in the past few years. The Windows XP successor was originally
expected to ship in 2003.